When the DOW rises and falls by points --- how is a point determined?

Answer 1

There's a weighting to each stock that's determined when the stock enters the index. It's price weighted if I remember correctly, so each point in the index is the weighted sum of the movements of the individual stocks. You can see the actual weights below.

Answer 2

The Dow Jones Industrial Index consists of 30 individual stocks. Each stock has a different weighting in the index. As the share price of the individual stocks goes up or down so does the index.

Check out the link below.

Answer 3

Based on the 30 leading industrials index.